the second amendment is guaranteed in the constitution of the united states of america. when the court ruled -- when the u.s. supreme court ruled in the heller decision -- they took this away from the argument. no longer can focus on one side say, we can own any gun we want, and no longer can folks on the other side say this only pertains to a militia. the court was clear. u.s. citizens have a right to own firearms, period. government entities have a right to pass regulations and laws pertaining to those firearms, but americans have a right to own firearms. please remember that. if we do, that will help us get through all of the speakers, giving everyone time to talk. there is an old saying in congress. everything has been said but everybody has not yet said it. i do not think we have to do that. if you are not redundant, it will give everyone time to talk, and maybe we can have some good ideas out there on how to forge a solution. we are in pretty good shape tonight on our panel. we have some real experts. i will ask each one of them to make some brief opening comments.